Maequis f



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARQUIS F. SEELEY, OF FREMONT, NEBRASKA.

ELEVATOR-BOOT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 382,772, dated May 15,1888.

Application filed November 6, 1886. Serial No. 218,201. (No model.)

had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to the receptacle or casing, usually termed a boot, which is located at the lower end of an endless-belt grainelevator to receive the grain, and from which the grain is taken or scooped up by the elevator-buckets.

The invention relates more particularly to that class of elevator-boots which are made of metal,and in which the bearings for the lower pulley of the elevator are sustained in or by the side walls of the boot; and-its object is to provide an improved construction in the metal side walls of the boot with reference to means therein for supporting and adjusting the vertically-movable bearings for the pulley-shaft, as will hereinafter fully appear.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of an elevator-boot embody ing my invention, taken upon a plane parallel with the side walls of the boot, as indicated by the line 00 m of Fig.2. Fig.2 is a transverse vertical section of the same, taken upon line aczrofFig. 1.-

In'the said drawings, A A are vertical side plates forming the side walls of the. boot, and which are made of cast-iron and provided with vertical guide-grooves A A upon their inner faces, said grooves being constructed to receive and guide the vertically movable bearingboxes B B of the pulley-shaft O.

Dis the pulley, which is provided with a hub, d, through which the shaft D passes, the hub being held from turning upon the shaft by set-screws d or otherwise.

E is a curved plate, which forms the bottom wall of the boot-,and which may be made either of sheet-iron or cast-iron, but which is preferably formed of sheet-iron, and is held in position by engagement with curved grooves formed by means of parallel ribs or flanges a a upon the inner surface of the side plates, A

A, near the margins of the latter, as clearly shown in the drawings. v

The side plates, A A, and the plate E are held in place by horizontal bolts F F, passing through the opposite;plates A A outside of the plate E, said bolts being provided with suitable heads and nuts outside of the said plates A to hold the latter from spreading.

G G are the main vertical frame-pieces of the elevator, which are herein shown as located' outside of the plates A A and extending 6 at their lower ends to the bottom line of the boots, so that said frame-pieces may rest upon the foundation or supporting-surface of the elevator, so as to transmit theweight of the upper parts of the elevator directly to the foundation independently of the sideplates of the boot, in the manner described and claimed in a prior patent, No. 336,755, granted to me February 23, 1886. The said side plates, A A,

may be conveniently attached to theframe- 7 pieces G G by bolts 9 g, extending through the plates A and through the said frame-pieces, as clearly shown in the drawings.

H H indicate vertical screws, which are employed for sustaining the bearing-boxes B B of the pulley-shaft'in the guide-grooves and for moving said bearings for the purpose of changing the vertical position of the lower pulley. Said screws H H are connected with the bearings'B at their lower ends by a joint, allowing g the screws to turn freely in the bearings, and the said screws are engaged with nuts H H, supported .upon the side plates, A A, above the guide-grooves A A,so that when the screws are rotated the bearings B B will be raised and lowered.

In the particular construction of the parts shown the screws H H are provided at their upper ends with hand-wheels h h, and are made cylindric at their lower ends and'pro'vided disengagement of the screws from the bearings,while at the same time allowing the screws to turn freely therein. The bearings B B preferably consist of a single piece of metal pro vided with horizontal cylindric apertures b I), forming the bearings for the ends of the pulley-shaft.

The side plates, A A, of the boot are preferably cast with rectangular recesses a a near their top edges above the guide-recesses A A, and in said recesses a a are inserted the nuts H H, with which the screws H H are engaged. By this construction the said nuts are easily and cheaply attached or held in place without the use of fastening devices-such as screws-while at the same time the nuts may be readily removed for repairs and replaced when worn out.

Elevator-boots have been heretofore constructed with vertical guides for the bearings of the pulley-shaft, formed by means of open slots in the side walls of the boot. This construction is obviously disadvantageous, for the reason that an opening is thereby formed through which dust and particles of grain may escape, and an important advantage is gained by the employment of the construction described and herein shown, in which the side walls of the boot are continuous and provided with vertical recesses or grooves A in their inner faces, for the reason that in this construction the side walls are entirely closed, while at the same time the said recesses A A operate to hold said bearings from both lateral and outward movement. An obvious advantage in point of economyand simplicity of construction is obtained by inserting the nuts H Hin recesses cast in the side walls of the boot over the vertical guide therein.

I I are vertically-arranged oiltubes attached at their lower ends to the bearingboxes B B of the shaft 0, said tubes extending upwardly through the recesses A,and are held or guided at their upper ends in guide-apertures in the parts of the castings above the said recesses, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. \Vhen the bearings are moved vertically,the oil-tubes slidein the said guide-apertures. This construction in the oil-tubes and means for supporting them has the advantage of enabling the verticallymovable hearings to be conveniently oiled at all times, and of so locating the tubes that they are entirely out of the way of the moving parts of the apparatus and are protected from injury.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with a pulley and pulley-shaft, of a casing or boot comprising side walls, A A, of cast metal, provided with vertical guidegrooves A A upon their inner faces and forming part of said side walls, and bearing-boxes B B for the pulley-shaft contained within the boot, fitted to and sliding in said guide grooves, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a pulley and pulley-shaft and vertically-movable bearings for the shaft, of a boot or casing comprising cast metal side walls, A A, provided with vertical guides for said bearings and having horizontal recesses a a over the said guides, nuts H H, inserted in said recesses a, and screwshafts H H, engaged with the said nuts and connected with the said bearings,substantiall y as described.

3. An elevator-boot comprising continuous side walls, A, of cast metal, provided with vertical grooves or recesses A upon their inner faces, and having horizontal recesses a located vertically over the grooves A A, of a pulley-shaft,bcarings B B,constructed to slide in said grooves, nuts H H, fitted within the recess a, and vertical shafts H H, engaging said nuts H H and connected at their lower ends with said bearing B, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a pulley and pulley-shaft, of a casing or boot comprising continuous side walls, A A, of cast metal, provided with vertical guide-grooves A A upon their inner faces, and bearing-boxes B B for the pulley-shaft, sliding insaid guide-grooves and provided with apertures b 1), extending through the boxes, said pulley-shaft being without shoulders at its ends and extending to the outer surface of the box, whereby the inner surfaces of the said guide-grooves A A serve as end bearings for the shaft, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a pulley and pulleyshaft, of a casing or boot comprising continuous side walls, A A, of cast metal, provided with vertical guide grooves A A upon their inner faces, bearing-boxes B B for the pulleyshaft, sliding in said guide-grooves, and oil-tubes connected with the said bearingboxes, extending upwardly through the said guide-grooves, the upper part of the said side walls, A A, being provided with guide-apertures for the said oil-tubes, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARQUIS F. SEELEY.

Witnesses:

M. E. DAYTON, O. CLARENCE PooLE. 

